US Senate panel seeks budget boosts for SEC, CFTC

* Senate bill would give SEC an FY13 budget of $1.566B

* CFTC budget would also increase to $308M for FY13

* Senate bill likely to spark debate with House GOP

* House Republicans want to cut CFTC budget, limit SEC budget

By Sarah N. Lynch

WASHINGTON, June 12 (Reuters) - U.S. securities and futures regulators would get big budget boosts under a 2013 funding bill approved by a U.S. Senate appropriations subcommittee on Tuesday.

The bill would give the Commodity Futures Trading Commission a 2013 budget of $308 million, about $103 million above its current budget of $205 million.

The Securities and Exchange Commission would get a boost of roughly $245 million, from $1.32 billion to $1.566 billion.

Both budgets are part of a larger $22.99 billion financial services funding bill that includes agencies such as the Internal Revenue Service and the Federal Communications Commission. The full Senate Appropriations Committee is expected to consider the bill on Thursday.

Senator Dick Durbin, the chairman of the Senate appropriations panel with oversight over SEC and CFTC spending, said the agencies need the funding increases to help implement their new responsibilities under the 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform law.

The law gave the agencies broad new powers to regulate the $708 trillion derivatives market. In addition, the SEC also won new authority over hedge funds, municipal advisers and credit-rating agencies.

But the Senate proposal is likely to set the stage for a battle with U.S. House appropriators, who last week unveiled a plan that would cut the CFTC's budget by $25 million and only marginally increase the SEC's budget by $50 million.

A date for the full House Appropriations Committee to consider those budget proposals has not been set.

Republicans who are critical of many of the Dodd-Frank reforms have sought to use the CFTC and SEC budgets as a way to slow down some of the new regulations.

They have been particularly vocal about the CFTC and its chairman Gary Gensler, whom they accuse of going above and beyond the Dodd-Frank requirements.

More recently, Gensler has also come under fire by Republicans following the October collapse of futures brokerage MF Global.

Durbin urged Republicans to put aside the political differences they may have with Gensler so that the agency can get the support it needs.

"They can have their disagreements and differences with Mr. Gensler," he said. "But if we don't have enough cops on the beat...it invites disaster."

Senator Jerry Moran, the ranking Republican of the Senate appropriations panel, said he has some concerns about the budget proposal for the CFTC.

"The management of the CFTC in my view still needs greater oversight," he said. (Reporting By Sarah N. Lynch; Editing by David Gregorio)